Known inspection systems are used to examine routes traveled by vehicles for damage. For example, a variety of handheld, trackside, and vehicle mounted systems are used to examine railroad tracks for damage, such as cracks, pitting, or breaks. These systems are used to identify damage to the tracks prior to the damage becoming severe enough to cause accidents by vehicles on the tracks. Once the systems identify the damage, maintenance can be scheduled to repair or replace the damaged portion of the tracks.
Some known handheld inspection systems are carried by a human operator as the operator walks alongside the route. Such systems are relatively slow and are not useful for inspecting the route over relatively long distances. Some known trackside inspection systems use electronic currents transmitted through the rails of a track to inspect for broken rails. But, these systems are fixed in location and may be unable to inspect for a variety of other types of damage to the track other than broken rails.
Some known vehicle mounted inspection systems use sensors coupled to a vehicle that travels along the route. The sensors obtain ultrasound or optic data related to the route. The data is later inspected to determine damage to the route. But, some of these systems involve specially designed vehicles in order to obtain the data from the route. These vehicles are dedicated to inspecting the route and are not used for transferring large amounts of cargo or passengers long distances. Consequently, these types of vehicles add to the cost and maintenance of a fleet of vehicles without contributing to the capacity of the fleet to convey cargo or passengers.
Others of these types of vehicle mounted systems may be limited by using only a single type of sensor. Still others of these vehicle mounted inspection systems are limited in the types of sensors that can be used due to the relatively fast travel of the vehicles. For example, some sensors may require relatively slow traveling vehicles, which may be appropriate for specially designed vehicles but not for other vehicles, such as cargo or passenger trains having the sensors mounted thereto. The specially designed vehicles can be relatively expensive and add to the cost and maintenance of a fleet of vehicles.